Share

Facebook

Tweet

Pinterest

Email

Mike Neff continued John Force Racing's dominance in Funny Car as he raced to his first victory of the 2012 season at the 25th-annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway near Houston, Texas, on Sunday.

With the win, Neff gave John Force Racing its sixth consecutive win to open the season, and he snapped teammate Robert Hight's four-race winning streak in the process.

Neff powered his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang past Ron Capps' NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T in the final round of eliminations. Neff's 4.239-second pass at 301.67 mph was too much for Capps, who hazed the tires in the Texas heat and clocked a 4.476-second pass at 211.79 mph.

“This whole race was one of a kind," Neff said. "To not be qualified until the last session and then have a wacky couple of rounds today was a nail-biter. Racing Jim Head, my old buddy, [in the first round of eliminations] it took so long for the Tree to come on. I never let go of the brake but I blipped the throttle. Thankfully, I was staged shallow so I didn't red-light. I looked down and saw green so I legged it and then it smoked the tires. It was a total mistake on my part as a driver and a crew chief.”

Neff struggled during qualifying and made it into the 16-car field during the final qualifying session in the heat of the day on Saturday. That tuneup proved to be what the John Force Racing driver needed throughout Sunday's eliminations as he beat first-round foe Head, top qualifier Cruz Pedregon and defending event winner Jeff Arend en route to his seventh career Funny Car victory.

Neff is second in the NHRA Full Throttle point standings behind his John Force Racing teammate Hight, who lost in the semifinal to Capps.

“That was a heck of a string he had going," Neff said of Hight. "That's hard to do in Funny Car, or any class, for that matter. I'm just glad I could keep the string going for John Force Racing. I feel pressure but that's just the business we're in. We're a top team and we were built on winning. I feel it, but I don't get pressure from John or anyone else. Just myself.”

In Top Fuel, Lucas proved that he is a championship contender with his win on Sunday as he posted low ET during each round of eliminations. The Geico/Lucas Oil dragster outran Antron Brown's Matco Tools dragster in the final round with his 3.848-second pass at 320.81 mph to Brown's losing 5.894-second pass at 117.05 mph.

“I'm just as proud as can be for this race team, the whole Geico pit area, and my parents [Forrest and Charlotte],” Lucas said. “Just to be able to go up to the starting line on race day and feel like you can beat anybody is a feeling that I've never had before. This is probably the first time in my career, Top Alcohol Dragster included, that I've ever had low e.t. of every round of eliminations."

Lucas started from the No. 1 qualifying spot for the fourth time of the season, and the win moved him to third in points. With the runner-up finish Brown took over the series points lead.

Nobile earned his first Pro Stock win of the season by outrunning veteran driver Dave Connolly in the final round. Nobile's 6.595-second pass at 210.14 mph in his Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger edged Connolly's 6.604-second pass at 210.41 mph in his Alamo Iron Works/KLR Group Chevrolet Cobalt to claim his second consecutive win in Houston.

“It's an amazing feeling [to win this event two years in a row]," said Nobile, who beat Greg Stanfield, Larry Morgan and Mike Edwards to advance to the final. "In the semis, we actually had to swap motors in that short amount of time [before the final] and the crew did it with now flaws and everything was perfect. The crew produces a really fast race car. I owe it to all of them. My dad taught me everything I know about driving a race car and drag racing, period. This win is a win for the both of us. He never won a Wally because he never had the power. But now we're doing it both together.”